Valve for dry powder fire extinguishers



Nov. 28, 1961 E. E. SEABERG 3,

VALVE FOR DRY POWDER FIRE EXTINGUISHERS Filed July 23, 1959 IN VEN TOR.

A rice/v5) United States Patent 3,010,520 VALVE FOR DRY POWDER FIRE EXTINGUISHERS Ernest E. Seaberg, 175 Sawmill River Road, Elmsford, N.Y. Filed July 23, 1959, Ser. No. 829,118 1 Claim. (Cl. 169-31) This invention relates to valves for dispensing dry powder from fire extinguishers.

It is an object of this invention to provide a compact dispensing valve having a housing having an inlet passageway for charging a container secured to said valve.

It is another object to provide a dispensing valve having besides the abovementioned inlet charging passageway, optionally a second passageway leading to a pressure guage.

In the prior art the dry powder extinguishers were provided with inlet valves and a guage secured to the tank, US. 2,785,759.

Such devices were not compact and subject to damage.

In this invention the storage tank for dry powder under gas pressure is provided with but a single opening so that leakage of gas (it any) from the tank is reduced to a negligible amount.

The above objects of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following descriptive disclosure taken in conjunction with the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the valve secured to the opening of a high pressure resistant storage tmk,

FIG. 2 is a vertical section view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing the manner of piercing the frangible disc in the valve,

FIG. 3 is a vertical section view taken at a right angle to the view of FIG. 2 and showing the passageways disposed in the valve housing and communicating with the tank chamber.

Turning to the drawing, a conventional high pressure resistant metal tank is provided with a single top opening in which an internally threaded cylindrical collar 11 is welded.

According to this invention an improved housing 12 is disposed threadingly upon said collar 11 in a gas tight manner.

The housing 12 is of integral cast metal construction and is provided with a central vertically disposed borehole 13 for receiving a plunger 14, and a horizontally disposed borehole 15 communicating between borehole 15 and the atmosphere. Borehole 15 is internally threaded and screw threaded nozzle 16 is disposed therein. The bottom portion of housing 12 is provided with a cylindrical flange 17 having a recessed channel 18 therein into which a suitable resilient rubber or plastic washer 19 is disposed to efiect a hermetic seal to collar 11. The housing cylindrical bottom [portion 20 is provided with external threads which are threaded into the internal threads of collar 11. The housing portion 20 is also provided with internal threads for engaging a syphon tube 21 having a top portion 22 having suitable threads thereon.

The top rim of the syphon tube top portion 21 is provided with a lip 22 of smaller diameter upon which a copper flange disc 23 having a circular depending skirt is placed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the vertical borehole 15 of the housing merges into a larger threaded bottom borehole into which the top portion of the syphon tube is disposed. The syphon tube 20 extends to the bottom of tank 10 and is screwthreaded into housing 12 until the copper disc 23 is hermetically disposed against the annular shoulder 24 of the housing bottom threaded borehole.

The housing bottom cylindrical wall 20 is provided 3,010,520 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 with at least one, preferably two passageways 24 running through wall 20 at a right angle to the axis of the lateral borehole 15 (-FIG. 3).

As also shown in FIG. 3, the housing 12 is further provided with respective internally threaded cavities 25 communicating between the respective passageway 24 and the outside atmosphere.

A conventional gas pressure guage 26 is threaded into one of the cavities 25 along with a rubber seal gasket 28 in order to register continuously the gas pressure in cylinder 10. Where a second passageway 24 is provided, a conventional tire valve 27 is threaded into its respective communicating cavity 25 in order to introduce gas under pressure into tank 10 as needed.

The housing top portion is provided with a lock pin receiving borehole 29 which is disposed over and parallel to the lateral borehole 15.

Borehole 29 in effect goes through the central borehole 15. A suitable pin receiving borehole 29X is also disposed through plunger 14 and a lock pin 30 having a finger receiving ring 31 is disposed normally through here holes 29 and 29X in order to lock the plunger 14 away from the frangible copper disc 23.

The plunger 14 is provided with a bottom tubular borehole 32 terminating at a lateral port 33. Port 33 is disposed normally over the lateral borehole 15 so that depressing the plunger causes the plunger knife edge 34 to pierce the plunger copper disc 23 and bring the port 33 into register with the housing borehole 15 thereby permitting the dry powder fire extinguishing chemical, for example, dry sodium bicarbonate, to be dispensed under the container gas pressure through the syphon tube 20 and out of nozzle 16.

The plunger 14 is provided with an resilient sealing O-n'ng 40 to prevent dry powder from passing out of the top of borehole 15.

The valve of this invention is also provided with a bottom handle 41 secured by pin 42 to a suitable housing lug 43 disposed opposite to nozzle 16. The valve is further provided with a top handle 44 secured by a pivot pin 45 to the top of the plunger 14. The front end of handle 44 is pivotally secured to a conventional lock plate 46 by a pivot pin 47. Lock plate 46 is provided with a suitable aperture which is disposed over the borehole 15 exterior opening and through which a portion of nozzle 16 is disposed.

A suitable coil spring 48 is disposed around pin 47 with its respective ends biased against handle 44 and plate 46. Thus spring 48 continuously urges handle 44 and the plunger 14 conneced thereto upwardly.

In operation of the fire extignuisher the locking pin 30 is pulled out of plunger 14 and handle 44 is squeezed toward handle 41 causing the plunger knife edge to cut the copper disc 23 and then bring plunger port 33 into register with lateral borehole 15 and its nozzle 16.

This invention has been illustrated by an embodiment but clearly its novel principle is of more generic scope and as claimed herein.

I claim:

A valve for dispensing dry powder fire extinguishing chemicals under gaseous pressure comprising an integral tubular valve housing having a bottom depending annular wall forming a bottom cylindrical tubular portion of relatively large diameter and threaded interiorly for engagement with a syphon tube to form a threaded borehole and threaded exteriorly for threaded engagement with a pressure resistant container, said housing having a top smooth walled tubular portion having a centrally disposed borehole of relatively small diameter axial to and communicating with said threaded borehole in the bottom cylindrical tubular portion forming an annular shoulder therebetween with a lateral dispensing borehole communirow boreholes disposed through said annular wall each' respectively communicating with a lateral cavity and the interior of said container; a syphon tube threaded exteriorly' at one end and provided with a terminal annular valve seat at said threaded end, a frangible metal disc disposed on said Syphon tube and threadingly against said shoulder intermediate said centrally disposed and said threaded boreholes of said housing to effect an air tight seal, and manually operated plunger means having a plunger having a conduit therethrough disposed in said central borehole and adapted to rupture said disc with alignment of said conduit with said lateral borehole, one

of said lateral cavities being used to receive indicating pressure means to indicate the pressure in said container and the other lateral cavity being used with means to fill said container with high pressure gas.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,564,733 Sipkin Aug, 21, 1951 2,605,848 Carter Aug. 5, 1952 2,785,760 Fleming et al. Mar. 19, 1957 2,822,054 Howard Feb. 4, 1958 2,904,305 Novotny Sept. 15, 1959 2,950,762 Austin Aug. 30, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 492,010 Great Britain Sept. 13, 1938 

